Christmas Wishlist 2013: Non-Beauty

Hey everyone! I thought I'd whip up a part 2 of my Christmas list to give you all some ideas for gifts to buy family/friends. Enjoy!

Canon DSLR: To be honest, I don't care which version, as long as it shoots in 1080p. I also don't care if it's secondhand. I just really want a nice DSLR for blogging and school purposes.

Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones: This exact model is kinda pricey, but I love the way it looks with the brown padding. This could also be a good gift for a man you need to buy for. But really, any noise cancelling headphones work. Just don't buy me Beats because I'm not Justin Bieber.

Jockery mini Portable iPhone charger: Anyone who has an iPhone (or phone that uses a USB charger) could find this handy. This one is relatively small and lightweight, and is good for a full charge. Super useful.

Macbook Pro decal: There are some really beautiful and inexpensive Macbook decals on Etsy. I chose this one because it would compliment by blue Incase quite nicely. My second choice are these Mickey Mouse hands, so cute!

Photojojo Lens Set: This is kind of geeky, but these Photojojo external iPhone lenses look soo nice. Perfect for any Instagram-obsessed person in your life!

Minecraft: Sometimes the 12 year-old boy in me emerges and I feel the need to play something like Minecraft. Unfortunately I feel like a big nerd paying $26.95 for a computer game so I've never hit "purchase"! Please, Santa?

Ikea wooden hangers: I intend on doing a full closet overhaul in my new room, and the first step are these wooden hangers from Ikea. Eight hangers for $5.99 is the cheapest I've seen them. Also I feel like anyone who uses wooden hangers really has their life together... Or is that just me?

Reclaimed wood tray: I'm obsessed with anything wooden (see above), and these reclaimed wood trays are just calling my name. I would probably use them as shelving instead of trays. For $16.41 on Etsy they seem really affordable too!

Neom or Diptyque candle: I think it's time to expand my candle collection beyond Bath & Body Works. A luxury candle for Christmas would be amazing. They sell these at Holt Renfrew, but I'm not sure which scent I'd want, so a gift card works too ;)

Simple silver ring: I've been wearing my high school grad ring for four years now and it's really time I upgrade. Nothing too fancy - something simple that won't tarnish works. I love the braid detail on this one.

Prescription Ray Ban sunglasses: I'd rather not be blinded when I'm driving so a pair of prescription sunglasses has become incredibly necessary.

Contacts: It's not that I don't love my glasses, but sometimes I'd like to have the option of wearing contacts - like to the gym, nights out, etc.

Crest Whitestrips: The last time I got my teeth whitened was at the end of high school and I feel like I need a refresher. These "gentle" Crest Whitestrips should to the trick.

Spa gift card: I don't care where, I don't care how expensive or inexpensive, I just really need a massage and a pedicure. Santa, help a girl out.

Topshop/The Bay gift card: So TopShop recently opened near my house and I've been meaning to check it out. A gift card would be lovely!

Sephora/Mac gift card: You can never go wrong with new makeup, as you might have guessed from part 1 of my wishlist.

And that's it! Hope you got some ideas :)

Holiday Goodie Bag Giveaway WINNER

Hey everyone! It's the 1st of December which means it's time to announce my giveaway winner!

I first wanted to thank everyone who entered. I know the concept of the surprise goodie bag can be a hit or miss, but I'm really pleased with the turnout. To those of you who started following Abundance of Erica because of the giveaway: I hope you stick around! I'm trying to expand by blog all the time and will surely have another giveaway in the future.

And the winner is... Jin S.!

Congratulations Jin! I will be emailing you shortly in order to find out your shipping address :) And thanks again to all those who participated.

Cyber Monday at Sigma

Hey everyone! I'm in the middle of exam-time craziness AND moving craziness, so blogging will be infrequent for the next month. BUT I'm definitely going to post the second half of my Christmas wishlist! This time it'll include non-beauty goodness :)

For now I just wanted to share some information about the Sigma Cyber Monday sale happening on December 2nd. They're offering 20% select items using the code CM2013. Here's a list of what your savings might look like (the sale prices are in brackets)!

Brushes

• E11: $12 ($9.60)
• E16: $12 ($9.60)
• E17: $12 ($9.60)
• E21: $12 ($9.60)
• E36: $12 ($9.60)
• E46: $12 ($9.60)
• E47: $12 ($9.60)
• E56: $12 ($9.60)
• P80: $18 ($14.40)
• P82: $18 ($14.40)
• P84: $18 ($14.40)
• P86: $18 ($14.40)
• P88: $18 ($14.40)
• Basic Eyes Kit: $69 ($55.20)
• Make Me Crazy Essential & Travel (with colored ferrule): $155 ($124)/$75 ($60)
• Make Me Cool & Travel (with colored ferrule): $155 ($124)/$75 ($60)
• Make Me Blush & Travel (with colored ferrule): $155 ($124)/$75 ($60)
• Mrs. Bunny Essential & Travel (with colored ferrule): $155 ($124)/$75 ($60)

Brush Care

• Spa Glove – Aqua/Pink/Purple/Black: $35 ($28.00)
• Dry’N Shape: $32 ($25.60)
• Classic Brush Roll: $17.60 ($14.08)

Makeup

• Dare Eye Shadow Palette: $29 ($23.50)
• Flare Eye Shadow Palette: $29 ($23.50)
• Paris Makeup Palette: $49 ($39.20)
• Individual Eye Shadows (all): $11 ($8.80)
•  Eye Shadow Bases Kits: $36 ($28.80)

Accessories

• Brow Tweezer: $11 ($8.80)
• Mirrors (all): $15 or $16.20 ($12.00 or $12.96)

My personal recommendations are the E11 or E17 - a good liner brush will seriously make you love gel liner, E47 - a really precise shadow brush can help add extra dimension to your eye makeup, P82 - the density of this brush would be perfect for cream shadow or bases, and the Mrs. Bunny Essential Kit - if you're new to makeup and building your brush collection, this is a great addition!

All the links in this post are affiliate links! You don't have to use them if you don't want to, but feel free - there is no extra charge/it does not change your order. Happy shopping!

Christmas Wishlist 2013: Beauty

I'll just go ahead and say it: I have an irrationally long Christmas list this year. We can just regard this list as a compilation of things I wanted to buy this year but was too poor to afford. Here it goes!

The eyeshadow palette I bought for myself this year is the Urban Decay Vice Palette, but I've also been lusting after Urban Decay Naked3, the Lorac Pro Palette, and the Laura Mercier Artist Eyes Palette. All neutral, but all extra lovely.

My blush pick for this year's list is Mac "Gingerly" because I've been searching for that perfect orange-coral shade. My concealer/foundation pick is the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer. My highlighter pick is the Hourglass "Ambient Light" Palette - because all the online reviews have successfully convinced me that I need this.

I've singlehandedly decided that I need a YSL lipstick in my life, so I'm going for a classic red called "Red Muse". My MAC lipstick pick for this list is "Fixed on Drama", a rich wine retromatte. For good measure, I'm throwing in the elf lip exfoliator, because why not?

For the sheer fact that I've never owned a "high-end" mascara that wasn't a sample, I've included: Benefit "They're Real" (all-time best mascara that I have like 3 used samples of), Tarte "Lights, Camera, Flashes", and Clinique "Bottom Lash" mascara, simply because "bottom lash mascara" seems like a superfluous purchase, but works great as a gift.

Ideally I would like one of every type of the Sephora Formula X nail polishes, but I've included "Boom" for list purposes. Zoya "Payton" looks sooo nice. Want. I'm in need of a good matte top coat so I've chosen the OPI one.

FINALLY, Pharmaprix has begun to stock the Sugar Crush line of Soap & Glory products, so naturally I'm after the Body Buttercream and the Body Scrub. Lush "Lovely Jubblies" (a "breast firming cream"...lol) has been on my wishlist for forever, so it's about time I get my hands on it.

Every year I like to refresh my brush collection in some way or another, so this year I'm asking for the MAC 138 which I'll use for highlighter, the Real Techniques eyeshadow brush set, and the Sigma E65 which I'll use for gel liner.

And, surprise, this is not the end of my list! I'll have a part 2 coming up which will feature my non-beauty items :)

Essie Nail Strips in "Love To Love You"

Hey everyone! I got these Essie nail strips at the L'Oreal sale on Sunday and just couldn't wait to try them on. Here's what I think!

I'm not yet very good at applying these things (bumpy edges, ugh), but I love the way they look! You can't really read the writing, but they still make for a very cool manicure. The kit comes with a little nail file to help you shave off the excess bits!

I sealed these in with a top coat but for some reason it didn't stick and ended up peeling off in the end. The size selection is alright, but could be better - I have small nails and found myself running out of strips that were small enough. My only suggestion is to apply these slowly and carefully - rough edges will get caught in places they shouldn't, like in my dog's fur when I'm petting him (sorry Einstein).

I definitely suggest picking these up if you find them on sale. They're too expensive at regular price.

Fall/Winter L'Oreal Sale & Marcelle Sale Haul

Hey everyone! Looks like I accidentally did a bit (read: a lot) of shopping... Oops! Doing hauls of the L'Oreal sale is always a good idea because people who've never been before can get an idea of what they might expect. I also went to the Marcelle/Annabelle sale this time which was fabulous. Everything was extremely reduced in price, even moreso than the L'Oreal sale!

Despite the 45-minute wait to get in, the L'Oreal sale proved to be quite fruitful. Having the knowledge of what I did/did not use from the previous sale really helped me decide what to choose. My only complaint is the sheer mass of people that were present at this sale... If you're intimidated by crowds, maybe opt not to go on a weekend.

The best part of the L'Oreal sale this year, hands down, was the Essie section. The nail polishes were reduced to $4.75 each, whereas they were $6 previous years. They cost, on average, $9 at Canadian drugstores. They also had nail wraps at $4.75, which was great, because I've been wanting to try them for a while but it just never seemed worth it in-store. They also had a deal where you could buy 5 and get one free, which I definitely made use of. I got two nail polishes: "Stylenomics" and "Fishnet Stockings", and three slick stick nail wrap kits: "Love to love you", "Glam it on", and "Show me your stuff".

I also got the L'Oreal Go 360 Clean facial cleanser, two new Maybelline Super Stay 10 Stain Glosses in "Refreshing Red" and "Cool Coral", and this amazing little perfume kit from Kiehl's that cost $25.

From the Marcelle sale I got a pack of four Annabelle glitter eyeliners ($1.50!), 2 for $5 Marcelle makeup wipes, the Annabelle Custom Look Kohl Kit containing 4 eyeliners for hazel eyes ($4), a Marcelle blush in "Blossom", two Marcelle Hydra-C Foundations, an Annabelle concealer set, Annabelle lip pencil in "Concord", Annabelle eyeliner in "Honey", Annabelle liquid liner, and Annabelle "Le Big Show" mascara.

All of the makeup at the Marcelle sale was $2.25, with the exception of the items noted above (in brackets). I was so happy they had the Hydra-C foundation because it's discontinued, but it was (and remains) one of the best drugstore foundations I've ever tried.

I hope this haul was helpful to those who are debating attending these sales! Overall I spent $75 at the L'Oreal sale (a good chunk of that - $25 - is attributed to the Kiehl's perfume set), and $35 at the Marcelle sale. If you can only attend one I definitely recommend the Marcelle sale. They have great quality products and the location isn't as tight/packed as the L'Oreal sale.

PS. I also might have picked up a few more items for my holiday giveaway! Don't forget to enter! :)